The Fault in Dying
by True China Sorrows
Summary: In the closing embrace of death the final issues are raised and shared as only they can share them. - 仙劍奇俠傳
1. What Must Be

The Fault in Dying

She was weak and pale. Her eyelashes fluttered as she glanced about the room. He was there. He had been there for a long time. Their hands were clasped tightly on the edge of their bed as the silence engulfed and over-powered them.

He removed the hot cloth from a bowl nearby.

"No," she offered him a faint smile. "I'm warm. I'm comfortable."

His jaw tightened. "All right, Yuè Rú."

She squeezed his hand reassuringly. No words of comfort were offered. No promises were made. If there was any malice in her, it was concealed entirely.

He returned the gesture feebly. The lines on his forehead were as pronounced as the devastating scars of earthquakes. His shoulders were slumped under the weight of a million grievous, prolonged lives. Dark shadows hung from under his eyes. He had yet to gain smile lines.

"I love you," she spoke in sighing. "I love you."

He nodded, raising her hand and kissing her knuckles. "I love you too."

In that moment, the thought of death, his ever constant companion, reaching to another of his beloved, he felt his stomach tighten and churn and twist and the rawness of his agony burst forth now without the haze of his calabash bottle in hand with its sweet nectar of alcohol.

**Author's Note: I do love these two. That surprises a lot of people. I think they are an amazing couple. It is the television series that I have issue with. I want her removed from that all together. I struggle to find a preference in the game. ****This tale is an utter tragedy: her second death. I have no information on how she died. Thus, I am writing as I go. I am writing as a fan of this pairing, as a lover of this game. I hope that I can do them all justice.**


	2. Acceptance

The Fault in Dying

Yuè Rú stared out of an open window listlessly. Her hands had once clutched at the sheets and left them wrinkled and dishevelled. She cared not. This place was one that she simply had to think about. She had little time left to do that. He would return soon.

"Li Xiāo Yáo…" she sighed. "Li Xiāo Yáo…"

His name sounded lonely as she spoke it. Frail tears cascaded from her weary eyes. Her hands remained clasped as she stared solemnly ahead. The room itself felt constricting. She could easily imagine voices speaking of her in the most disapproving of tones. After all, this is her place…

Her eyelashes fluttered and her vision restored. "Líng'er…"

She spoke nothing of betrayal or isolation to him. He and Líng'er had much together. She felt no rivalry with the young girl who had been such a cherished companion. She came second, she supposed, but it was no cause for anguish. They had love. They were bound by that. Both she and Líng'er had taken place as his wife. Both had raised his child and loved her, bless her dearly departed soul.

Her lips pursed. She frowned as drear thoughts came to mind. This place is Líng'er and Yì Rú's. This is their home, their tragedy. She glances downwards.

She is dying. She has been for some time. The strength that she once had has waned and gone beyond her reach. She recognises how close death stands to her. She would beckon it nearer if not for Xiāo Yáo. He has lost his aunt, Líng'er, killed Xiǎo Mán's father and Yì Rú's lover only to watch as the life drained from her and his grand-daughter profited from stolen strength and fell to deep, terrible grief. He will watch, too, as his dear grand-daughter, Xiǎo Mán, dies. She knows he will.

It would take a fool in the deepest throws of love to marry a woman who must give her strength and life to her daughter, who must sacrifice all that she has to protect the people of the world and who cannot remain so loyally by his side as both wish.

Yuè Rú returned her gaze to the window. She has died before. She died when Líng'er was with child. She died when saving Líng'er from the tower with Xiāo Yáo. The walls collapsed. She remembers it all so vividly. It had caused such blinding pain when the wall had crushed her skull.

If not for his grief, for the grief that has been such a fiercely loyal companion to him, she would accept her fate and have died willingly.

**Author's Note: Yuè Rú, don't go! Don't leave him all alone!**


End file.
